Chapter 38

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When DuYan stepped through the door, he saw YuanNing coming out of the room.

Seeing DuYan coming back, she greeted her and said with a smile, "Sister, you are finally back."

With YuanNing standing next to DuYan, they looked less and less like twins.

YuanNing had a graceful figure and elegant facial features; while DuYan was more than half a head taller than YuanNing, and his face was a little more heroic than YuanNing. Although he was tall, he didn’t have any curves.

After putting on men's clothing, in the eyes of others, DuYan was not so much YuanNing's twin sister, but her elder brother.

DuYan lowered his hand, to let YuanNing hug his arm, "Were you waiting for me here?"

"I just came back from mother’s place. I heard that older sister beat up YuanJue?”

YuanNing nodded, and did not shy away from ChengYu who followed DuYan. Over the years, she had become accustomed to this hostage from Cheng-guo following her sister like a shadow.

Although her sister was often arrogant towards ChengYu, in YuanNing's view, ChengYu was enjoying something bitter as if it were sugar (1). After discovering this fact, she never mentioned asking her sister to stop bullying ChengYu again.

DuYan was not surprised. Since he had amplified the mess, it was not surprising the news would spread to the Queen, who is the master of the palace.

The three of them walked to the main room together, and at the door, he sent ChengYu to make tea. He then went inside with YuanNing to sit at the seats there.

After taking a seat, DuYan asked, "The YuanJue situation. What did mother say on your side?”

YuanNing blinked and showed a playful smile, "Sister, are you scared of mother teaching you a lesson?”

"If I am?”

The plan had gone well, so DuYan was in a good mood. He followed YuanNing’s line of conversation and teased his sister.

"Then you have to bribe me well before I can tell you." YuanNing held her chin and her lips raised triumphantly.

DuYan knew YuanNing very well, and knew that she liked to collect all kinds of novelty items from the market.

However, the queen felt that YuanNing was already sixteen years old and it was time for her to get married. It was inappropriate if she still maintained a childish appearance, and so under the queen’s order, all of the gadgets in YuanNing’s courtyard were cleaned out. Even when she occasionally went out, she was not allowed to bring back her purchases to the palace.

Therefore, when YuanNing wanted some small gadgets to play around in secret, her only source was DuYan.

"You’re fancying something on me again, why don’t you say it.”

YuanNing pointed at the ornament on DuYan’s waist, “Sister, this ornament on your waist is really beautiful.”

DuYan took off the jade pendant from his waist and placed it on his hand for a moment. Seeing YuanNing looking expectantly, he smiled and said, “Your eyes are quite sharp. So it’s because of this craftsmanship that you’ve been staring at my body all this while.”

YuanNing was a little shy, "I don't know why. It’s just that the moment I saw it, I immediately liked it very much.”

“You want it?”

As soon as DuYan finished speaking, he saw a tray drop down on the table in front of him.

ChengYu, who he had instructed to make tea, had placed the tray down at this moment. Perhaps DuYan was too sensitive, but he felt like the force of dropping the tray down was a bit stronger than usual.

DuYan originally thought that if YuanNing liked it, it wouldn’t hurt to give her this ornament. He had always been a vicious person. After snatching it from ChengYu and then giving it to others was very inline with his character.

Nonetheless, ChengYu's appearance reminded him of one thing.

In the original movie, ChengYu and YuanNing were the male and female lead, and had a much more romantic plot line. Even after ChengYu threw away YuanNing in the latter plots, YuanNing’s feelings for ChengYu before her death was extremely complicated and could not completely forget the feelings. As the cold-blooded and ruthless emperor, ChengYu left a unique soft spot for YuanNing at the bottom of his heart.

Only when DuYan was vigilant could he stop the tragedy from happening. In this era, pendants were often used as a symbol between men and women, so he couldn’t let it fall into YuanNing’s hands.

"Even if you want it, I can’t give it.” DuYan retrieved his hand and tied the pendant back to his waist.

"Sister, why?" YuanNing pouted, unwilling.

She wasn't an unreasonable person, but she felt strange since her sister originally had wanted to give it to her, but she suddenly changed her mind.

"This pendant is very important to me." DuYan explained casually.

However, although the speaker had no intentions, the listener had intentions. Not to mention that ChengYu’s temperament considered things very carefully. He stiffened slightly and then withdrew from the room as if nothing had happened.

DuYan’s thoughts were on YuanNing, so he didn’t notice ChengYu’s abnormality. He just kept looking at YuanNing, “Let’s stop joking around. What did mother say on your side?”

YuanNing also stopped tangling with this matter, and said bluntly, "Mother thinks that you laid your hand too heavily and she’s worried that the king will punish you for it."

After finishing speaking, YuanNing curled her lips in disdain, "I think mother is thinking too much. Sister, since you hit YuanJue, it must be YuanJue's fault. The king certainly won't blame you too much.”

DuYan glanced at YuanNing. Under the protection of the queen and him, YuanNing had become unaware of the surging dark tide hidden under the calm surface.

Although she knew that King Yuan didn't like the Queen, and knew that he didn't really dote on herself and her elder sister. She also knew nothing about the current crisis of the Wu Family and the Queen. She was absolutely ignorant of everything.

DuYan didn't intend to let YuanNing know this. She was too naive. If she knew the inside story, he was afraid that she would accidentally leak it out, and that would be a fatal disaster for the Queen, DuYan and even the Wu Family.

He patted YuanNing comfortingly, "Yes, Ning'er is right. Queen mother is thinking too much (2).”

YuanNing, who was assured by her sister, returned to her courtyard with a peace of mind. As expected, the next day, because of YuanJue’s matter, King Yuan became furious.

When DuYan walked into the queen’s palace, it was quiet. One could only hear intermittent whimpers, sounding both pitiful and mournful causing the listener to have tender affection for the person.

At the head was King Yuan and the Queen sitting side by side. King Yuan’s face was dark and his eyes were full of anger. The Queen’s eyes were anxious as she kept looking towards the entrance of the palace.

Concubine Hui, was kneeling before them, crying like a pear blossom bathed in rain (a weeping beauty). YuanJue was to the side and his kneeling posture was distorted due to the arm injury.

The eunuch yelled, "Eldest Princess has arrived.”

Upon hearing these words, Concubine Hui’s body raised and began to find fault, “Great King, if the prince committed a crime, he should be punished like the common people. The Eldest Princess beat my son for no reason, please avenge this concubine.”

DuYan turned a blind eye, walked towards King Yuan and bowed, "Great King."

Although King Yuan had a dark complexion, he didn't attack on the spot. Instead, he asked, "Concubine Hui said that you beat YuanJue in the street. Do you admit it?”

DuYan responded, "This matter is not false."

"Do you have anything to refute?”

"None."

Perhaps it was DuYan's arrogant and domineering attitude that finally hit King Yuan's bottom line. He patted the table and said angrily, "YuanYan, as the eldest princess, you are disrespectful to your father, and unfriendly to your younger brother. Today, you will definitely be punished according to law.”

DuYan was not afraid at all. He knew that King Yuan was just acting fierce but was weak at this time. Now that the general was still at the frontier, and the Wu family was still powerful. At this critical moment, he would not offend the queen too much.

DuYan could guess the reason as to why King Yuan would act like this. Recently, King Yuan had been taking more action, and it had alerted the Wu Family. He was using this incident to appease the queen, and be in the Wu Family’s good grace.

Lifting her high and then putting her down gently was in line with King Yuan’s previous lack of bottom line for the princess.

Once the queen spoke, King Yuan would end today's farce by borrowing the donkey's knowledge of going down the terrain (3).

DuYan’s breaking of YuanJue’s hand was not only to vent his anger, but King Yuan’s reaction was also within his plans.

Even if he broke YuanJue's hand, King Yuan would still favor him, which will definitely make Concubine Hui and YuanJue feel more resentful, and if he had their confidant add slander, then they would naturally lose their mind.

DuYan didn't want to anger King Yuan too much. He directly knelt down and said, "I don't know how the king wants to punish me?”

Seeing that DuYan had softened, King Yuan said, “You fought on the street causing serious injuries. According to the law you should be beaten with 30 rods. However, since you are female, and you admitted to your mistakes, change it to 30 lashes, so you can stand it.”

It was only thirty lashes, and once the queen spoke, he would only get 10 lashes. Moreover, the

it was probably enough to get ten whips. Moreover, the executioners were all veterans. Knowing that their lashes won’t be severe, DuYan didn’t care about the 30 lashes at all.

Just as the queen was about to dissuade the king, she heard ChengYu, who was following DuYan, speak, “Great King, Prince Jue’s hand was accidentally broken by me and has nothing to do with the eldest princess."

King Yuan's eyes were cold as he looked at ChengYu, “Prince Yu, I know that you have a close relationship with Yan'er. Yan'er has always been willful and reckless, and she should be taught a lesson. You don't have to take the blame for her.”

DuYan got up angrily and shouted, "ChengYu, the things that I did, is not your turn, a servant, to take the blame!”

The queen got up, and hurried to DuYan's side. She grabbed him and said, "Yan'er, pay attention to your identity."

She seemed to be comforting the other person, but in fact she was quietly writing on his palm under the cover of her sleeves.

DuYan had a special identity. When the mother and son discussed important matters, they were worried that the wall had ears, and so they often communicated in this way. The two had a simplified set of characters to convey private messages.

DuYan pretended to be anxious, and turned his head away, but in fact he was trying to understand the Queen’s message.

"The executioner, Concubine Hui, may be exposed."

DuYan's eyes sank and fell silent. The queen meant that the executioner was Concubine Hui’s person. In case anything went wrong, it would be revealed that he was a man.

His identity involved too many people, so he couldn’t make any mistakes at this junction.

Seeing DuYan calm down, ChengYu knelt down with his head down, “Truthfully, it was I who did it. The eldest princess was worried that I would be punished, so she didn’t refute your words.”

ChengYu's sudden appearance to take the blame was in line with King Yuan’s wish, so he stopped pursuing it. He opened his mouth to say, “If it is as you say, then you should accept the punishment. You have a male body, you will be subject to 30 rods. Any rebuttals?”

"None." ChengYu answered.

YuanJue suddenly spoke, "Father, Prince Yu is a hostage from Cheng-guo, so he shouldn’t use Yuan-guo’s laws. Jue thinks that he can be exempt from the 30 rods. But since he committed a crime of beating up a prince on the street, he still needs a small punishment.”

(T/N: Fuck, he is such a asshole)

"That’s reasonable." Yuan Wang nodded. "Say it."

YuanJue stood up, walked around ChengYu unhurriedly, and then said, "Why don't you punish him by breaking the same hand? How about that?”

DuYan frowned, but was stopped by the queen again. He froze for a moment, but finally did not speak.

The eunuch was a veteran in execution, and they moved quickly.

With a click, ChengYu's face became pale, and out came a muffled snort. A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead.

King Yuan couldn’t be harsh on his allied hostage, so with a wave of his hand, he had the doctor come forward and bandage him.

Each person had their own thoughts, and their farce ended with this ending.

When DuYan left with Chengyu, he turned around and glanced at YuanJue, who faced him with proud eyes.

He suddenly gently curled the corners of his lips and said three words silently, "Just you wait."

(1) 甘之如饴. Enjoying something bitter as though it were sugar. Gladly enduring hardships.

(2) 母亲 mǔqīn. -> This is what YuanNing uses. 母后 mǔ hòu. -> This is what DuYan uses. But the hou part turns it into a queen. So although Queen mother sounds weird, bear with it lol.

(3) 借坡下驴. Idiom. Going down based on the donkey's knowledge of the terrain. Means taking advantage of favorable conditions.

Published 12/8/21-In the midst of COVID-19

X: Hostage from Cheng-guo or Cheng-guo hostage? They both sound weird…. Which one is grammatically correct… 🤔 hmmmmm

X: Hi guys. Sorry that I haven’t uploaded anything. My finals are now coming up 😵‍💫It's gonna be back to sporadic updates 😓